Jessica FOX

Jessica began paddling at 11 and honed her craft at the Penrith Whitewater Centre, a venue used for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Initially reluctant to compete, her passion for the sport ignited after a physiotherapist recommended kayaking as part of her rehabilitation for a broken arm. Under the guidance of her mother, who became her coach, Jessica quickly excelled, winning the C1 and K1 Junior World Championships by the age of 16.

Jessica made her Olympic debut at London 2012, where she won a silver medal in the K1 event at just 18 years old. She ended 2013 as the world No. 1 ranked canoeist in the women’s C1, a streak she would maintain till 2023. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, she won a bronze medal in K1.

She became the first athlete to achieve the ‘triple-double’ in 2018, winning both C1 and K1 titles across three World Cup events. She was named Sportswoman of the Year at the World Paddle Awards and received the Australian Institute of Sport Female Athlete of the Year for her exploits in the same year.

At Tokyo 2020, Jessica solidified her legacy by winning gold in the women’s C1 event, the first time the discipline was included in the Olympics. She also secured a bronze in the K1 event, bringing her Olympic medal tally to four by the end of the Games.

Jessica continued to dominate the international circuit and in 2023, she reached another milestone by winning her 10th individual canoe slalom world title in London.

In November 2023, Jessica was named to Australia’s Paris 2024 team for the C1 and K1 events and later made the cut for the kayak cross event.

She was honoured as Australia’s flag-bearer for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, alongside hockey star Eddie Ockenden, making her only the second canoeist to carry the Australian flag after Dennis Green at Munich 1972.

When Fox took to the water in Paris, she surpassed triple Olympians Rob Bell, Warwick Draper and Danielle Woodward to become Australia’s first four-time canoe slalom Olympian.

Her performance at Paris 2024 was nothing short of extraordinary. She bagged the first of the three possible medals at Paris 2024 by winning gold in the women’s kayak event at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

The Australian was eighth in the semi-finals but produced a brilliant run in the medal race to finish the course in 96 seconds, winning gold by a margin of one and a half seconds over Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska.

Three days later, she defended her C1 title, storming down the course to claim victory by 2.48 seconds ahead of Germany’s Elena Lilik, despite incurring a two-second penalty for gate contact.

The historic double at Paris 2024 made her the first athlete to win two canoe slalom golds at the same Games and extended her Olympic medal count to six - a record unmatched in the sport.

Fox also became one of the most successful athletes in Australian Olympic history with her sixth individual medal, surpassing swimmers Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones, cyclist Anna Meares and runner Shirley Strickland on an esteemed list.

Fox could not reach the final in the kayak cross event at Paris 2024, which was won by her sister Noémie Fox. Jessica was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission during the Paris 2024 Games.

Looking ahead, Jessica has expressed her desire to continue competing, with the potential to participate in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, either as an athlete or in another capacity.